Word: barak
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...capital of Rabat to bid farewell to King Hassan II, who died of a heart attack Friday, President Clinton was careful to pay respects not only to the fallen king but to the cause of which Hassan had been a solid ally: Mideast peace. Clinton, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and PLO leader Yasser Arafat met for about five minutes on Sunday for an insta-summit (the first meeting for the trio) that a White House aide would describe only as "animated." The issues are well known. But the low profile from Washington is understandable...
Clinton dearly wants to achieve a lasting settlement in the region before he leaves office, and in Barak the U.S. has an ambassador to Arafat who is truly interested in peace. But the Israeli and the Palestinian have a bit of a love triangle to work through with Clinton ? Barak would prefer that Washington hang back a little and preserve Israel?s natural negotiating advantage, while Arafat finds himself fighting for U.S. attention now that Barak and Clinton have hit it off so well. If anyone can walk that line in the middle of a funeral, of course...
...admit it, but Yasser Arafat probably misses Benjamin Netanyahu ? because Washington?s love affair with Ehud Barak may put the Palestinian leader in an uncomfortable position. "We don?t accept this," Arafat said Tuesday after Barak and President Clinton agreed on a 15-month peace timetable that appeared to tie the stalled implementation of the Wye River agreement to the conclusion of "final status" talks with the Palestinians. Although Barak hastened to reassure the Palestinian leader that Wye would be speedily implemented, the issue highlighted Arafat?s political weakness. "Arafat can?t challenge Barak because he can?t afford...
...peace deal with Israel, and Arafat hopes that reconciling with them will isolate the Islamic fundamentalist Hamas movement, whose terrorist suicide attacks are the main threat to the peace process. But Hamas may not be feeling any urgency to strike. "They'll only feel the need to act once Barak and Arafat actually seal an agreement," Hamad says. Until then, they?re happy to watch the Palestinian leader sweat...
...threatened to derail the peace process. But Yitzhak Rabin had advocated "fighting terrorism as if there is no peace process and pursuing peace as if there is no terrorism," on the grounds that halting peace talks in response to terrorist attacks plays into Hamas?s hands. "Unlike Rabin, however, Barak agrees with Netanyahu that you can?t talk peace amid terror attacks," says Beyer. "Barak wants to maintain the incentive for Yasser Arafat to do his utmost to curb Hamas." But even Israel?s more muscular security services haven?t managed to completely eliminate the Hamas threat. Clinton plans...